Inventor No More
by NebulaBelt
Summary: Bright Heart's had a bad day, no make that a bad couple of weeks. Enough to make him seriously reconsider what he wants to do with his life.
1. Chapter 1

Care Bears are not (c) to me. Soulful Heart is and Regal is (c) to Mariel. That is all.

"**Inventor No More"**

Everyone has an off day or two. It's a simple fact. But sometimes these things can last a bit longer than a day or two. For example…

**Sunday**:

"Bright Heart!" Cheer Bear shrieked as the new window-washer he made for her smashed her windows and tried washing her face.

**Monday**:

"Bright Heart!" Soulful Heart Fox snarled as a device Bright Heart made as a machine designed to make wedding dressed stuffed him in a dress that Little Bo Peep would've been ashamed to wear.

**Tuesday**:

"Bright Heart!" Brave Heart Lion bellowed as he was being pursued by a deranged, mane-brushing machine.

**Wednesday**:

"Bright Heart!" Tenderheart Bear groaned as a modified Cloud Mobile took off all by itself and started flying about five feet off the ground.

**Thursday**:

"Bright Hear!" Gentle Heart Lamb moaned as Bright Heart's latest device to help her gardening ended up uprooting half of her flowerbed.

**Friday**:

"Bright Heart!" Regal Heart Lioness hollered when she found her daughter after she'd had a run in with a gift-wrapping machine

**Saturday**:

"Bright Heart!" Grumpy yelled as a cleaning robot hung him from a cloths line. "Oh why do these things always happen to me?"

"Bright Heart!"

"_Bright Heart_!"

"**Bright Heart!"**

"**BRIGHT HEART!"**

**Two Weeks Later:**

_Please work!_ Bright Heart Raccoon said in what was more than half a prayer. _Please, it's just _got_ to_...With one last crank of the wrench he finished his latest invention: A machine that was designed to pick up and carry food from the kitchen to the family members already sitting in the Hall of Hearts. He programmed it so everyone would be delivered their favorite meal.

Crossing his fingers he hit the on switch. The machine hummed and turned to life. Bright Heart affected not to notice the exchange of worried glances that most of the Care Bear Family members were already wearing as they awaited their lunch.

The machine rolled into the kitchen and a few moments later, rolled out of it. It rolled at stopped in front of Brave Heart, who winced as the machine beeped and spat out a tray of sandwiches and peanut butter balls. He tensed up then relaxed when nothing happened.

Bright Heart breathed a sigh of relief. _Finally…_

The machine started rolling on to the next person when it stopped. A funny whirring noise started to sound and the machine began spinning round in circles, beeping like crazy and moving much faster than it was supposed to go. It began spitting out trays of food in random directly, splattering against the walls.

Everyone, Bright Heart included, dove under the tables and tried to wait it out. A few moments later the machine stopped again. Everyone started to get up, thinking it was over. Just then, the machine let out one last, loud "Beep!" seemed to fly apart at the seams, showering everyone and everything with what had been lunch.

Bright Heart idly wiped what had been a salad from his shoulder as he looked at the smoldering wreck of his latest work. He turned and saw the frowns from the food-covered faces of his family members. Bright Heart spotted Soulful Heart Fox glaring at him. Soulful's face was covered with an egg salad sandwich, but Bright Heart could _feel_ the glare anyway. Gentle Heart's hair was smeared with a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff and Brave Heart's main was coated with what looked like Jello and Lotsa Heart was trying to clean oatmeal out of his ears. Swift Heart had a similar problem with lasagna.

Bright Heart's shoulder's slumped. _Not again. _He hardly noticed Noble Heart and True Heart walking over to him until he felt a paw being laid on his shoulder. He turned around to look into the eyes of an annoyed looking horse.

"We need to talk Bright Heart." Noble Heart started.

"We know you mean well." True Heart said gently as she scooped some ice cream out of her headfur. "But—"

"—You have to be more careful with your inventions." Noble Heart continued, picking up the thread. "It's just that—Bright Heart?" He saw the wrench in Bright Heart's paw shaking violently as Bright Heart gripped it with ever increasing pressure.

"Bright Heart? Are you all—" True Heart hadn't gotten the word "right" out before Bright Heart turned around and threw his wrench through the window.

Jaws dropped as the shards of glass fell with a tinkle. Noble Heart's next words died on his lips as he saw Bright Heart's face; Furious and streaming with tears.

"That's it!" Bright Heart exclaimed as he stormed out the open doors, leaving a stunned family behind.

"Bright Heart wait!" Gentle Heart said, the first to recover her wits as she ran out the doors. Soulful, still wiping egg salad from his face, followed soon after, as did Noble Heart, True Heart and several others.

Out of breath, they arrived at Bright Heart's home in time to see him stuffing his garbage cans full of various objects and devices.

"Bright Heart, please. If we did something to hurt you're feelings we're sorry…" True Heart said. Bright Heart ignored her, which was stunning in and of itself.

"Bright Heart--" Gentle Heart said as she walked up to him. "_Please_…talk to us. Talk to _me_."

"I-I can't do this anymore." He said in half a whisper. "No more."

"What're you saying Bright?" Soulful asked, concerned.

"I mean I'm through." Bright Heart said forcefully as he dropped an armful of tools into the trash. "I am sick and tired of humiliating myself and endangering my family with these…these _things_." He spat the last word as if it were an obscenity. Raising his voice, something he rarely did, Bright Heart squeezed his hands into fists.

"I am never going to pick up another tool or invent anything ever again…_Never!_"

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

This was a very delicate matter. It called for the highest degree of sensitivity and tact. Unfortunately….

"**_Are you out of your flipping mind!_**" Soulful demanded that evening. The others had all gone, confused and at a loss, while Soulful stayed at Bright Heart's house, trying to, as he put it "talk sense into that crazy raccoon". Bright Heart, sitting as his now empty desk, said nothing. "That _must_ be it." Soulful insisted. "You're bleeding certifiable!"

Bright Heart sighed. "Soulful, I'm not crazy." He didn't raise his voice. He didn't sound insistent or even look at Soulful when he said it. "I've made up my mind. I'm not inventing any more."

"Because of a few minor setbacks?" Soulful scoffed. "Everyone has those."

"Most peoples' 'minor setbacks,'" Bright Heart said through clenched teeth, "Don't jeopardize the lives of the people they love."

"Yes, heaven knows the danger that flying rice pudding can cause!" Soulful fairly snarled.

"Soulful, stop being so flippant about it! Someone could've gotten hurt!"

"NO. ONE. DID. Get over it!"

"This from you?" Bright Heart shot back without thinking. "Since when have you gotten over anything?" Soulful, for one of the very few times in his life, was rendered speechless. Bright Heart pressed on, unaware of Soulful's condition. "I'm sick of being a laughingstock! The crazy inventor, the mad scientist who can't even make a _toaster_ work right without it **_EXPLODING!_**"

"But—"

"My inventions have sent more people to Take Care's clinic in the last month than No Heart has in the last _year_. I'm a **_menace_**!"

"Wait just a—"

"What if what I had hurt someone permanently…or worse? Do you think I could live with myself if anything happened to you or Tenderheart or Gent—" His voice caught. Shaking his head he just buried his head in his arms.

"Bright…" Soulful said softly.

"Just go away..." Came the muffled answer.

"Becoming a Luddite isn't going to help anyone."

"Go away." Bright Heart repeated.

"Do you think anyone enjoyed watching that spectacle this afternoon when you turned your back on your greatest gift? Gentle Heart looked like she was going to cry—" Bright Heart leapt up as if stuck with a pin.

"Get out!" He demanded, his face wet with tears. **_"Get out!"_**

Not knowing what else there was to say, Soulful left. Casting one last look over his shoulder, Soulful shook his head and headed to the Hall of Hearts. As he expected, most everyone was there looking uneasy.

Tenderheart happened to be the one who caught Soulful's eye first. Understanding without words what was being asked, Soulful sighed and shook his head.

"I knew it." Brave Heart declared from one corner. "I knew I should've gone myself, I'm the Cousins' leader after all…"

"Oh, _really_." Soulful snarled, angry at the situation and furious at Brave Heart's implied criticism. "What would _you_ have done? Given another of your inane motivational speeches? Roared?"

Before things could get ugly, Tenderheart stepped in. "This isn't the time for this." He said, guiding Soulful to a seat at one of the tables. In a low voice he added, "We're all worried about Bright Heart, Soulful." Soulful nodded once in thanks and lapsed back into his trademark silence.

"So now what?" Swift Heart asked. "Bright Heart not inventing is like me not running!"

"Hmmm. It means I'll have to do all the work around here." Grumpy grumbled crossly. "Figures." Grumpy wilted under a short glare from Swift Heart that seemed to say: _This was not the time for _that_ either_.

"Well, maybe this could be a good thing for Bright Heart." Cheer suggested to incredulous stares. "I mean it is good to try new things, right? And you know maybe he'll find something else he wants to do. Something that doesn't involve electricity or wires…" She trailed off meekly under Soulful's baleful glare.

"Now if only _you'd_ be so kind as to try something else…Something that doesn't involve making life-altering decisions for someone else!" He snapped.

"What about Bright Heart?" That was Gentle Heart, neatly cutting off another potential fight before it began.

"He thinks he's doing what's best for the family." Soulful said, crossing his arms in clear indication of what he thought of that line of reasoning.

"So what should we do?" Gentle Heart bleated, her worry clear.

I don't know what else there is to do tonight." Tenderheart said, looking at the dark sky outside. "For now I think we should all get some sleep. Maybe Bright Heart will feel better tomorrow." Gentle Heart looked like she would have wanted gone to see Bright Heart now, but allowed herself to be escorted out by Cozy Heart and Swift Heart.

Soulful Heart caught Tenderheart's eye as everyone trudged out. Soulful didn't believe a word Tenderheart had said. From what he could see, Tenderheart didn't either.


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast was tense the next morning. Conversations were kept low when Bright Heart came in, even those that had nothing to do with him. Yesterday was a shocking day, one they hadn't fully recovered from.

Tenderheart was just getting his own breakfast when Bright Heart came in and sat down next to Soulful like he usually did. Tenderheart took that as a good sign, though Soulful did look a little uncomfortable. So did Bright Heart. Looking around, Tenderheart couldn't find Gentle Heart anywhere. Usually the three of them ate together.

Making his way over, Tenderheart sat down on Bright Heart's right; Soulful was already on the left. "Are you okay?" Tenderheart asked.

"I'm…better." Bright Heart answered as he absentmindedly poked at his food. "I'm sorry for all the commotion yesterday. But I'm sticking to what I said. My inventing days are over."

"But you love inventing." Tenderheart protested.

"That doesn't mean I should keep doing it. Not if it means hurting the people I care about."

"But your inventions and know-how have helped a lot too." Soulful said, speaking up for the first time. "And don't you go try and tell me that nothing you've made has ever helped anyone. I know better and so do you. You say any different and so help me, I'll _belt_ you." Soulful gave a weak smile, but Tenderheart wasn't sure how much of that was a joke. He seemed pretty on edge. This was bothering him a lot more than he let on. Bright Heart didn't look at him and missed Soulful's confliction.

"I guess you're right." He said poking at his eggs. "But I also hurt people more then I help them. Besides I…"

"What is it?" Tenderheart asked.

"…I have to know if there's more the me than being an inventor and scientist. I mean, is that my entire value? The fact that I can set a VCR better than anyone else?"

"Of course it's not!" Both Tenderheart and Soulful said in unison, both sounding horrified at the very suggestion.

"Well I have to find that out for myself. And in any case, it's still not worth the risk to everyone else to keep tinkering around with things I can never get to work." He got up, not giving either a chance to respond. "I'm going to go see what else there is I can do. See you around." He walked away, leaving Tenderheart and Soulful alone.

"Well, at least he seems better than he did yesterday." Tenderheart ventured. Souflul just snorted. "You don't think so?" Tenderheart asked.

"Not for a second." Soulful declared sourly. "Didn't you notice the way he kept shifting from one argument to the next, not really developing any of them fully? Even contradicting himself? And that baloney about hurting people 'more than he helps them?' Bah! I doubt Gentle Heart would agree."

Tenderheart nodded, understanding the allusion. Gentle Heart's life had been saved in part because of Bright Heart's inventions when No Heart attacked her in her dreams.

"It's not just inventing that he's turning his back on." Soulful continued. "He's abandoning his entire way of _thinking,_ the scientific method, logic, all of it."

"That's…worse than I thought." Tenderheart admitted with a sigh. "We should probably keep an eye on him, Make sure he's okay."

"He isn't." Soulful stated flatly, but didn't argue. Tenderheart's attention was suddenly focused on the main doors, where Gentle Heart was walking in looking like a tidal wave had just washed over her.

"What happened?" Tenderheart asked as they walked over to her, his words tripping over Soulful's; "Are you alright?" Gentle Heart took a steadying breath before she answered them both.

"I was walking past Bright Heart as he was coming out and….and he didn't even seem to notice me." Tenderheart and Soulful shared a wince…as if they needed further proof that all was _not_ okay.

"Don't worry, he probably wasn't thinking straight." Tenderheart said softly, which was undoubtedly true…but worrying in and of itself.

"We're just going to go check on him now." Soulful said. "You stay here and have something to eat." Gentle Heart looked like she was going to protest but a growl from her stomach, and a look from Soulful, was enough to convince her. Despite himself Tenderheart grinned. It was…not amusing but certainly smile worthy—to see Soulful when he was worried about someone he plainly cared about, even as he tried to cover it up by being his usually crotchety self.

Gentle Heart giggled; apparently she'd seen Tenderheart's face. Soulful whipped his head around to see what she was laughing about. Tenderheart quickly wiped the smile from his face. He didn't think it'd worked; Soulful missed very little but if he did notice it, he chose not to say anything. He made a brief 'shooing' motion at Gentle Heart who looked like she was about to giggle again before she stopped herself.

As Gentle Heart headed inside for breakfast, Tenderheart and Soulful headed to find Bright Heart.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why would he come _here_?" Soulful said, not quite able to keep a note of disgust out of his voice. Tenderheart didn't bother trying to answer. He knew a rhetorical question when he heard it.

Soulful, though he had his admirable points, nonetheless shared the stereotypical abhorrence of gyms and most physical activities that too many high-brow intellectuals held. Finding Bright Heart at Champ Bear's gym struck Soulful as something not all that far off from blasphemy for the family genius.

Though Tenderheart didn't share Soulful's instinctive loathing of gyms, he did admit to himself that this was not where he would've expected Bright Heart to be either. "Might as well go in." Tenderheart said, choosing to ignore the not entirely faked look of horror on Soulful's face.

As they made their way in, they kept their eyes peeled for Bright Heart. They passed a weight room, a swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court, locker rooms, showers, and a couple of other rooms. Tenderheart was impressed. Soulful looked like he wanted to cross himself, as if to ward off evil.

The gym was largely empty. It took them nearly twenty minutes all the same to find Bright Heart. He was in one of the smaller weight rooms. He was trying to do bench presses…with what was clearly too much weight and without a spotter.

"Are you crazy?" Soulful demanded from across the room, startled into a yell. Bright Heart, startled at the outcry, nearly dropped the barbell onto him, which was already wavering in his grasp. Tenderheart and Soulful ran over and grabbed it at either end, helping Bright Heart coach it back into place. Tenderheart looked at the weights.

"Sixty pounds? Bright Heart you can't lift that much…you should know that."

"You never know until you try." He countered. "Learning by trying and all."

"That's predicated on the assumption that you live long enough to learn from 'trying.' " Soulful spat, furious beyond tact. Tenderheart could see why.

"Bright Heart you know better than that." Tenderheart said. "You should know that you never start something new at such a difficult level." He continued trying to keep the reproach from his voice "And _never_ without a spotter or help around. It's dangerous. What if it had fallen, or there was an accident?"

"It doesn't matter, I wasn't good at it anyway." Bright Heart said as he rubbed his arms. Soulful glanced at Tenderheart, who just nodded. They both caught the dejected tone he spoke in.

"Well that doesn't mean you have to just give up. I mean it _was_ your first attempt…" Bright Heart wasn't listening. He was already trudging out the door. "I see what you meant earlier, about him not thinking like himself." Tenderheart admitted.

"It's getting worse." Soulful said dourly.

"You mean the fact that he quit so easily?" Tenderheart asked. Soulful nodded.

"I have no use for _those_ things myself," He spitted the barbells a glance that would've melted them had he stared any more forcefully. "But even I'd not have tried it once and then, not having mastered it in twenty minutes, left it for good. No one can master anything in one sitting, especially one so short."

"I know what you mean." Tenderheart agreed. "Why do you think he's doing it?"

"Just a guess, but having given up inventing and science, I'd say he wants to be an expert at something else. Of course he can't become an expert overnight, not in weight lifting, not in anything. It takes years. And when he sees that he can't do it that quickly—"

"He'll go on thinking that he's not good at anything but inventing, which he's given up as a bad job, and so will think he's not good at anything." Tenderheart sighed. "Bright Heart's just setting himself up to feel worse and worse." Soulful nodded and muttered something to himself. "What was that, Soulful?" The fox cleared his throat.

"What I said was: 'Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.' " Tenderheart nodded, knowing well of Soulful's love of literature, though he didn't know just who he had quoted.

"Who said that?" Tenderheart wracked his mind. It sounded like something a Greek philosopher would say. "Socrates?" He ventured, naming the only one who came to mind.

"Socrates?" Soulful shook his head. "No, that was Euripides. When Socrates speaks of the nature of people you _wish_ it were true. When Euripides finds truth, you wish he hadn't."


	5. Chapter 5

Nearly a week later found Tenderheart back in the Hall of Hearts, picking at his breakfast, looking as down as he ever did. Bright Heart hadn't returned to his inventing. Nor had he found any other pastime to fill the void.

The following week had continued on much in the way Soulful had predicted. Bright Heart kept moving from hobbie to hobbie, task to task, and when he didn't instantly prove to be as adept with it as he was with science and inventing, then he would quit, feeling disgusted with himself.

This of course only worsened the self-doubts that ate at him when he quit inventing to the point where he in fact, _expected_ to fail at whatever new endeavor he set out to do. Naturally, expecting to fail hastens one along in actually doing so. It was a downward spinning cycle of self-doubt, disappointment, and despair.

Soulful Heart called it a Catch-22. Tenderheart called it a nightmare.

Among his recent attempts, Bright Heart tried: cooking; which ended with him burning his paws and dropping a hot tray on Treat Heart's foot, directing cloud car traffic; there were three crashes in as many hours, portrait painting; he ended up getting Stellar Heart furious at him when Bright Heart portrayed Regal as being fatter than she actually was, swimming; which ended up him walking home, embarrassed and missing his bathing suit, and playing the trombone; nearly deafening half of Care-a-Lot with the noise a flatulent dying moose might make.

Bright Heart's mood declined along with his self-esteem. He was uncommunicative most of the time, and snappish when he wasn't. He might have almost been Soulful Heart on one of his better days, but Soulful's snarkiness was simply part of his character. With Bright Heart, it reflected a deep hurt.

Soulful Heart alternatively argued, pleaded, and insisted that Bright Heart go back to what he thought was his true calling. Bright Heart would simply dig in his heels and refuse. There would be arguments, fights that could be heard all across the Kingdom of Caring.

It made the others uncomfortable and nervous. The two of them were usually the best of friends, but now…Tenderheart suspected that Soulful's almost belligerent attitude towards the problem was a mixture of disappointment, sadness, and fear masquerading itself as anger.

Tenderheart once made the mistake of suggesting that he was too close to this problem and perhaps someone else should trying talking to Bright Heart. Soulful gave him a withering glace that made him feel like an ant under a magnifying glass on a bright, sunny day.

Of course, Tenderheart was lucky in at least one respect. He wasn't in the middle when Soulful and Bright Heart started going at it. Poor Gentle Heart looked crushed when they fought. She didn't know what to do, they were both her friends and it pained her when they fought.

In fact, Tenderheart turned around in his seat. Sure enough there they were at the back table, arguing furiously. Tenderheart, and everyone else there, tried not to hear them. Getting involved as a mediator would only get your head bitten off by the both of them, so no one tried anymore.

Even as far as the arguments went, this one was getting pretty bad. To say nothing of _loud_…

"You're going to _kill_ yourself if you keep doing this!" Soulful said in what was a snarl in all but name.

"Better than killing all of _you_ the next time something explodes!" Bright Heart snapped back, looking not all that far off from exploding himself. Gentle Heart tried saying something but as was her wont, was completely overlooked in the middle of the fight.

"So letting us all just sit back and watch you waste away is somehow preferable?" Soulful demanded. "Watch you squander your potential?"

"So I'm only valuable if I'm building things for _you_?" Bright Heart shot back, incensed.

Gentle Heart bit her lip and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders wracking in quiet sobs. Tenderheart got up to try to do something when things got even more out of hand.

"Now look what you've done!" Soulful demanded of Bright Heart.

"Me?"

"You made her cry!"

"You're the expert on that!" Tenderheart picked up his pace, hoping he could put a stop to things before they got worse. No such luck.

"If you cared one bit about the family you'd see how much you're hurting them when you deny your gifts like this!" Soulful exclaimed. Bright Heart's face grew stormy.

"Since when have _you_ ever cared about this family?" He snapped, making Soulful's jaw drop as his voice rose. "I grew up with them. I was **_raised_** with them. What do **_you_** know about **_family_**? **YOU WERE BORN IN A _CAULDRON_!**"

That last angry word was still echoing off the walls when Bright Heart turned and stormed out of the hall, nearly knocking Tenderheart on his rear. Dead silence emerged after that. Everyone had heard the exchange and looked as if their world had turned upside down. Tenderheart was about to go after Bright Heart but looking at Gentle Heart's horror stricken-look, her paws grasped over her mouth, and Soulful, he decided he was needed here.

"Soulful? You know he really didn't mean that, he was just angry and it's been a bad week and—Soulful?" Tenderheart asked. The fox hadn't batted an eye in over a minute.

"Soulful?" Gentle Heart asked, concerned even though her eyes were still puffy from crying. The fox still didn't move for a long while. He just stared vacantly at nothing. Eventually he shook his head and looked like he was trying to say something, but couldn't get it out. His eyes started watering and he just covered them with one paw.

_Oh, no_…Tenderheart as he helped the fox get up and guided him to the door. Gentle Heart draped one of Soulful's arms over her shoulder and helped walk him out. "Come on…let's get you home."

The walk to Soulful's house was done in complete silence. Gentle Heart and Tenderheart exchanged worried glances. This was worse than anything they'd expected. Soulful didn't remove his paw from his eyes the entire way.

When they arrived at his home they had to help walk him up the front steps. "Are you going to be okay?" Tendeheart asked. Only a fool would as if he was okay now…

Soulful didn't answer, verbally or otherwise. He just opened the door and closed it behind him the second he got inside.

Dejected and not sure what to do next, Tenderheart and Gentle Heart started walking back to the Hall of Hearts. Gentle Heart paused for a moment, straining her ears. It could've been her imagination, but she could've sworn she heard sobbing coming from the other side of Soulful's front door.

Shaking her head and on the verge of tears again, Gentle Heart just followed Tenderheart as they headed back.


	6. Chapter 6

Bright Heart didn't remember when he arrived home. The last few minutes were all a blur. He couldn't remember how he got there or even why. It was just as he was opening his front door that everything came back to him in a rush…including what he said to Soulful.

_I didn't say that…I couldn't have._ He thought, horrified. Then came the even more horrific realization. _…But I **did**._ Bright Heart leaned his head against his wall. _I stopped inventing so no one else would get hurt…and now I've hurt my best friend in a way far worse than anything my machines could've done._

_And Gentle Heart_…Bright Heart sucked in a breath. He'd been shutting her out all week. She'd been _crying_ that morning at breakfast...and he'd just ignored her.

_I've let my relationships with the two most important people in my life deteriorate. _An icy knot formed in his stomach. _They'll never forgive me for this. What've I been thinking?_

He knew that was the wrong question almost as soon as he thought it. _I **haven't** been thinking. That's been the problem._ Bright Heart shook his head. He could sort this out later. Right now he had to do what he could to save his relationships to those who mattered most to him.

Picking up the phone, Bright Heart dialed Gentle Heart's home, hoping she was there. After what seemed like an eternity he heard the phone being picked up.

"Hello?" It was Gentle Heart.

"Gentle? It's me…I—I want to say…I didn't…I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry." Bright Heart said at last. Gentle Heart didn't answer right away. Bright Heart feared the worse.

"What you did hurt." She said finally. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. She also sounded hurt and—rare for her—almost angry. Bright Heart hung his head, though she couldn't see.

"I never wanted to hurt you." Bright Heart said, ashamed.

"I know. But you hurt a lot of people, not just me. I know you didn't mean to." Gentle Heart didn't say "_But you did,"_ but Bright Heart heard it all the same.

"How's…" Bright Heart felt his throat constrict and didn't finish. Gentle Heart knew what he meant.

"Soulful's hurt. I think more than I am." She said sadly. "I know you, I love you," Bright Heart felt his heart skip a beat at the realization that he hadn't lost her, "But Soulful…you know what Soulful's like." Bright Heart knew what she meant. He spent so much time looking and waiting for things to go wrong that when they did it seemed to convince him of every little suspicion he had ever harbored.

Winning Soulful's trust was no easy feat. When Soulful trusted, he trusted completely. Of course this meant that he trusted a very small circle of friends. He could stand being insulted or getting in an argument with most anyone else, but a fight with a friend was devastating for him.

_He trusted me…and I stomped on that trust._ "I'll go talk to him." Bright Heart promised. "I'm so sorry Gentle. I will find a way to make it up to you both. I promise."

"I know you will." Bright Heart could practically hear her smile over the phone. "Please go talk to Soulful. He really needs it."

"I'll take care of it right away. I'll talk to you later. Good-bye."

"Bye!" Bright Heart hung the phone up and sighed. That had been relatively easy. Now for the hard part…talking to Soulful Heart Fox.


	7. Chapter 7

With the same trepidition that a man facing his execution would show, Bright Heart knocked on Soulful Heart's door. _He's never going to forgive me._ Bright Heart thought with no little despair. _And I can't blame him._

Bright Heart blinked as he saw the lights turn on and the door opened. If Soulful was surprised to see Bright Heart there, he gave no sign of it. He made a short gesture with his arm that Bright Heart took as an invitation to come one.

He felt a little nervous when Soulful closed the door behind him. _This isn't going to be pretty…_

"Soulful…I want to tell you that—"

"Save it." Soulful said abruptly.

"What?"

"Save me your apologies and spare me your excuses. I'm not interested." Soulful said bitterly.

"I'm not hear to offer any excuses Soulful…" Bright Heart said, strung. "But I am sorry for what I said…" Soulful shot him a clearly incredulous look. "I _am_."

"Fat chance. You're just sorry you made yourself feel bad, if you cared an iota about my feelings you would've stopped this nonsense a week ago."

"I-I don't understand…"

"Obviously." Soulful growled.

"Soulful, _please!_ We're friends!"

"That's what makes your _betrayal_ so painful." Bright Heart felt his chest collapse in on itself at the word 'betrayal.' He tried speaking again but no words could escape from his mouth any more than light could from a black hole. In fact that's just what he felt: Like a black hole opened up inside him and was devouring him from the inside out.

He let out a whimper as he sunk to the floor and before he could check himself proceeded to cry his eyes out. He cried about what he had said to Soulful and what Soulful had just said to him. He cried about hurting the people he cared about and he cried about every humiliation, every hurt feeling, every mistake, and every accident…he cried and cried until there was nothing left in him. It was as if a dam inside him had broken, nothing was held back.

The next thing Bright Heart could remember was being helped to his feet, though he could barely stand up on his own. "You okay? Feeling better?" Soulful asked softly as he embraced him, a sharp contrast to his earlier tone. Bright Heart nodded.

"Yes." He croaked a lump in his throat making it hard to speak normally. Soulful gave him something to drink. Bright Heart didn't even look at what it was before he swallowed it. _Some sort of tea_, he guessed.

"I'm…" Bright Heart began again but Soulful just waved his paw in a dismissive gesture.

"I heard you the first time and I believed you. Repetition is just annoying."

"But, I don't understand—" Bright Heart said, unconsciously repeating himself again. "You said I betrayed you, how can you be so calm?"

"I said nothing of the sort." Soulful Heart said evenly. Bright Heart replayed the conversation back in his head. Soulful explained. "Bright, you betrayed _yourself_. _That's_ how you hurt me. That's how you hurt Gentle. What you did to yourself…it was just _wrong_."

"Then you're not angry at me?" Bright Heart asked, amazed. Soulful paused.

"What you said earlier hurt. I can't say that it didn't." Soulful admitted. Bright Heat's face sank. Soulful hastened to add. "But you didn't say anything that was a secret. Everybody knows…what I am." He swallowed. "If you'd just stop this foolish posturing and get back to doing what you love, we can call it a night. Sound good?"

"Soulful…I can't." Bright Heart sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened as a result of it, but I stand by my decision to stop inventing."

Soulful's eye twitched. "Excuse me." He said as he picked up one of his sofa cushions and held it to his face. Bright Heart winced when he started cursing into it, but couldn't really make any of it out. It still sounded bad though. Eventually, Soulful discarded the poor, abused cushion and turned back to Bright Heart. "Now then. We're just going to talk…"

_Until you get your head screwed on straight_. Bright Heart read in his eyes, but didn't want to argue. "Go ahead."

"From what I've heard you say over the past week is two things: One; you think your inventing hurts more people than it helps, and Two; you think that's all you're good for." Bright Heart nodded.

"Exactly."

"That's baloney." Soulful said in lieu of something stronger. "Remember the time I cut my hand on your saw last month?" Bright Heart looked down at the floor and nodded.

"That's the sort of thing I'm talking about…"

"Cut that out." Soulful snapped. "It was my fault, no one else's. I didn't spend years on the run to gain my freedom just so you could take it away from me by saying that I'm not responsible for my own mistakes. I screwed up. Not you, _me_. Understand?" Bright Heart reluctantly nodded. "Now, after that happened, what did you do?"

"Well, I got you a clean rag to stop the bleeding, then I took you to Take Care's. That's all."

"Why'd you take me to Take Care?"

"Because she has the medical know how and I didn't. She also had the equipment."

"Where'd she get that equipment?" Soulful asked.

"Well, I—" Bright Heart trailed off.

"You made it, Bright. _You_. So the next time you try telling yourself you do more harm than good, remember that. Besides, no matter what you tell yourself none of your machines ever do more than give someone a scratch, a burn, or maybe embarrass them a bit. From what I understand the most damage any of your machines ever did was to _you_, when that boiler exploded…and seeing as how that led to you and Gentle Heart admitting how you felt about each other—and since the damage wasn't permanent—I doubt you have much cause to complain."

"When you put it that way…" Bright Heart admitted. "I guess you're right."

"Your darn right, I'm right." Soulful said, not caring in the slightest about the crime he just committed against the English language. "Now then, your second belief, that you're only useful as an inventor and not as Bright Heart Raccoon. Pure bunk."

In spite of himself, Bright Heart had to giggle. The word was so old, so out of fashion and was probably picked up in some book that was old when television was new…and he could tell that Soulful probably ended up refraining from saying something far more pungent than "_bunk_."

Soulful ignored him. "Bright Heart, a lot of people have talents. Heaven knows I'm not one of them—" He startled a laugh out of Bright Heart, which was the goal he had in mind. "—But those talents don't make up the whole of a person. You're at your best, at your happiest when you're expressing yourself through those talents, but that doesn't mean that's the only reason you're worth anything."

Bright Heart blinked. He knew Soulful could be insightful but he never really saw him use that insight in regards to people, who he—as a rule—tried to avoid.

"Thanks Soulful…I never really thought of it like that." Bright Heart admitted.

"Does this mean you'll start inventing again?" Soulful asked. "Because all this sensitivity stuff is starting to really cramp my style…" He added sheepishly. Bright Heart smiled, the first real smile he'd had in weeks.

"I guess it means I will. That doesn't mean I wont keep trying new things," He added. "But you're right, I love science and inventing too much to give it up."

"Finally!" Soulful exclaimed. "'Cause my microwave's been broken since forever and I have such a craving for popcorn…" Bright Heart snorted and tossed a pillow at him.

"I might've known… Tell you what you go give Gentle Heart a call while I go fix your microwave. Maybe the three of can go out for pizza or stay in and watch some movies. My treat." Soulful smiled.

"Since when can I turn down free food?" He asked rhetorically as he got up to get the phone.

"If the indents in your couch are of any indication…" Bright Heart teased, earning him a fierce—if faked—glare from Soulful. Bright Heart went into his kitchen to fix the microwave and managed it in less than five minutes. It didn't explode or even burn the popcorn. He counted that a success. Gentle Heart came over and gave him the biggest hug ever when she saw him fixing it. He counted that an even greater success. He stayed up all night watching (and sometimes making fun of) movies, eating junk, and getting walloped with pillows with his two closest friends. He counted that the biggest success of all.

THE END


End file.
